 Clarity's I Ching Newsletter: Issue 54 "Unless you walk out into the unknown, the odds of making a profound difference in your life are pretty low." Tom Peters |
™Letter from the Editor— Dear Subscriber, I know I didn't write all that much for you in the last issue - hope this one makes up for it! There's a subscriber's reading (they're usually shorter, but this one grew...) and a DIY Corner dealing with one of the most Frequently Asked Questions of them all: what to make of mutually 'contradictory' moving lines. I've included an extract from the I Ching Course lesson that deals with moving lines, so if you've been considering investing in that, you can get an idea of what it has to offer. (The course books themselves, without the added tuition and support, cost all of £20, so maybe 'investing' is rather a grandiose term - but you know what I mean!)
One other quick thing: I've been finding out about the technology available now for 'webinars', online classes and meetings, and it's actually reached the point where I can afford it. We could have study groups and seminars, maybe of one or two dozen people, working on different aspects of the I Ching. If you have a headset with microphone for your computer, we can have question and answer sessions by voice as well as text chat.
Later on I will probably set up a formal survey to ask for your input on this: what you'd be interested in discussing and what you think would be a reasonable price. But for now please feel free to email me with any suggestions or comments on the idea. I need to get a grip on my excitement about this and not invest the time and money unless people would be interested in participating. So do let me know!
Warm wishes,
Hilary
™DIY Corner: 'Contradictory' moving lines?— "Hi
I have a question for you. When using the I-Ching I often get moving lines whose meanings contradict each other. How should I interpret this?
All the best to you and yours,
Tad"
There's quite a full answer to this question in the 'Pivots of Change' lesson of Clarity's I Ching Course. Hopefully these three brief excerpts will act as a helpful starting point...
"There are basically three possible answers:
Lines telling a story
This is a very frequent format when you ask about the future - what you can expect from a certain course of action, what opportunities or problems it might present. If, for example, you ask for a reading for the upcoming year and receive multiple moving lines, this is their most likely ‘rationale’. A conspicuous effect of this pattern is that the lower lines, which are nearer to your current experience, will look a lot more intelligible than the higher ones. Also, the higher lines may be more remote from you as possibilities, because there are more choices to be made, more problems to be worked through, before you reach them..."
"Lines as alternatives
Thinking of multiple moving lines as alternatives can bring about a major change of perspective! For someone trying to turn the reading into a neat, harmonious interpretation they may be a problem; for someone seeking to turn it into positive action, they look more like a wealth of opportunity. After all, moving lines represent not only what is changing, but also the points where you can intervene to bring about change.
The 'alternatives' model is the most common explanation of apparently contradictory lines in response to a ‘how to’ question. But it can also emerge when people ask for prediction, especially if they are tacitly attempting to evade their own responsibility for the outcome. The Yijing says in effect: ‘How will it come out? Well, what do you choose?’
Often, as soon as you entertain the idea of alternatives, everything becomes clear..."
"Lines as different people
Where several people are involved in the situation… or where you really can’t see yourself in one or more of the lines… or where two changing lines are obviously interacting… then it is time to consider the possibility that these lines represent people. Unsurprisingly, the essential element in such a reading is your intuition (but beware of attributing the less pleasant lines to people you don’t like!)..."
™Subscriber's Reading: A sense of losing power ˜ "Hi Hilary,
My situation that I would love to have some guidance on is as follows. I have been in an intimate relationship with M for just over one year. Before that we were close friends for about seven years.
The hardest thing about our relationship is that we are very very similar so at times it is very hard to know what is going on for who and at other times it is very tempting to project all the difficulties onto him and feel very arrogant and smug - not healthy qualities in the eye of the I Ching. I learn again and again from the I Ching not to interfere with his process and to withdraw when our communication is getting stuck etc. As a result of doing this, something that is starting to happen quite regularly with me is that the part of me that I identify as my ego keeps feeling like it is losing power which I am sure is a good thing long term, but feels very threatening and life endangering in the here and now.
What I would like for now is guidance on how I support myself to become humble and accepting in the face of what feels like such a huge and controlling ego!
Many many thanks
J"
Dear J,
I asked the I Ching on your behalf,
'What is the best way for J to respond to this sense of losing power?'
I phrased it this way in order to be as open as I could to all possible answers, without setting an 'agenda' for the oracle. In fact, the answer responds very closely to the way you originally phrased the question, in terms of humility and acceptance versus the ego. Yi answered you with Hexagram 15, Humility, changing to Hexagram 34, Great Vigour. It sets your desire to be more humble in the context and atmosphere of immensely strong willpower.
Humility and Great Vigour in this reading are not antagonistic at all: they work together. Humility is a way of relating to Great Vigour, but Great Vigour also supports and energises Humility.
'Humility' may actually be a slightly misleading translation for what this hexagram is about: it doesn't mean denying your strengths and gifts or trying to hide them. Bradford Hatcher wisely calls this hexagram Authenticity: that doesn't mean self-abnegation any more than it means throwing your weight around.
You've already taken the unusual step of not projecting your fears out onto your partner and making him into a personal 'project'. Looking at this reading, I think the next step would be to acknowledge the sense of fear and threat as a perfectly acceptable, lovable part of yourself - rather than setting out to banish it, like a hero facing a monster. The most basic meaning of this hexagram is Uniting: there is only one of you.
And literally, it is about words that unite, that hold close to reality. So within your relationship, this is about truth in communication. No need to wear a mask; no need to communicate anything less than yourself.
'Authentic, creating success.
The noble one completes it.'
The noble one, the one with vision and integrity, can carry authenticity through to a successful conclusion: this is an ideal to aspire to. The authentic person will never be distracted from what she has to do, because she has no need to prove anything about herself. This is why the core of Authenticity is Release: freedom in every moment to choose your own course, with no puppet strings to be pulled or buttons to be pushed!
Time and again, I've found this hexagram comes up to remind me not to exaggerate. For instance, beware of the idea that the relationship depends on your becoming a better person. It's quite safe to take your role much more lightly; you may be amazed at how little depends on you. What if... there were no heroic battle to be fought with an ego-monster, no great sacrifices to be made? What if you didn't need to go to any extremes at all?
'In the centre of the earth there is a mountain. Humility.
The noble one reduces the many to increase the few,
She weighs things up to even out their distribution.'
The earth is low-lying, accepting, and offers no resistance; the mountain is massive, solid and distinct. And 'humility' in the Yijing is a combination of the two. The earth masses together into mountains and is eroded again to enrich the valleys: balance is created through a constant cycle between amassing a solid centre, and giving generously of yourself. It seems you can't have one without the other.
Relating hexagram: 34, Great Vigour
You're looking specifically for ways to 'support yourself to become humble and accepting' - and this second hexagram is what you are looking for. The reading isn't just about being humble about Great Vigour, but being humble with Great Vigour!
This hexagram may be the I Ching's take on aspects of yourself you're inclined to condemn. It shows a combination of strength and purpose: both sheer energy, and also your vision of the kind of relationship you want to have, and the kind of person you want to become within it.
You mentioned that you've been learning to withdraw: that's the pattern of Hexagram 33, Retreat. (Maybe you've received that one already?) Looking at the sequence of hexagrams, Great Vigour is what all your Retreats are for. You withdraw to avoid being compromised, to ensure you don't lose any part of yourself; then comes a resurgence of strength. 'Things cannot end with retreat, therefore great vigour follows.'
'Great vigour,
Harvest in constancy.'
Power brings results when it is true will-power - based on truth to principles, in the long term ('constancy'). So this Vigour doesn't mean that you'll charge in aggressively or unthinkingly. It's not about testing your strength (which doesn't generally work well in this hexagram, especially not against immoveable obstacles), but about standing your ground. 'Retreat means withdrawing; Great Vigour means standing still.'
'Thunder dwells above heaven. Great vigour.
Noble one treads no path that is without ritual.'
Another note of warning: there is nothing anarchic about true power; thunder moves on the basis of unchanging natural laws. 'Ritual' in human life is a way of ensuring that one moves with such great powers as the love between two people, not against them. So for you this might mean the ways you and M have established of handling the intensity of the relationship. Better to put more energy - more of yourself, that is - into your existing ways of communicating and being together than to experiment, or try to break the mould just for the sake of it.
Change
These three moving lines describe ways of dealing with the new environment of a more intimate, intense relationship: moving away from the feeling of being threatened with a loss of control over your own destiny, towards a sense of growing fulfilment within the relationship.
Line 1:
'Humble, humble, the noble one
Makes use of crossing the great river.
Good fortune.'
'Crossing the great river' means taking a risk in order to continue an important journey - and in particular, making a commitment to a relationship. So I think this refers back to your 'crossing' into an intimate relationship. Great humility - or great integrity and authenticity - is what allows you to continue the journey and makes the commitment worthwhile.
I think this works because with humility, you don't bring preconceptions with you that this new territory must be organised in the same way as life back on the other side of the river. The inner strength of humility allows you to stay motivated without knowing what comes next; it means you can be yourself regardless of how M sees you. And the promise is of 'good fortune' - of easier, stronger relationships because of this.
line 2:
'Integrity calling out.
Constancy, good fortune.'
Even when the outer forms of your communication with M are variable, and periodically feel empty or 'stuck', your integrity can still 'call out' to him. The inner connection stays strong: an unwavering call, justifiably confident of being heard and finding a response.
line 4:
'Nothing that does not bring harvest,
Giving signs of authenticity.'
In the smallest things you do, you can give signs of your true colours. Without needing consciously to 'show him', your underlying authenticity and commitment will come through. Ultimately, there's no need to withdraw, or to watch for his response, or to 'defend yourself'. By staying constantly open so that the same 'signal' of your true self can keep on coming through, you create a more complete meeting and union of the two of you; the results can only be good.
From the I Ching Community:
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